The Pearl of the of Sea

Chapter 33

It's now the end of April. Neenah, Jeff, Tom, Michelle, Steve, and Annemarie are at Mandy's grave. Neenah places a bouquet on top of Mandy's tombstone, "Happy Birthday mom." She then sees Michelle place a penny on Mandy's tombstone, "What are you doing?"
   
"I'm putting a lucky penny on her grave. It's a thing my family does, they also say when you find change around the house it means your deceased relatives are saying hello from heaven."
   
"I guess my mom must be saying hello a lot because I did notice I have been finding pennies a lot and they all seem to have her birth year my dad's birth year, Tom's birth year, or my birth year on them."
   
Michelle rubs Neenah's back, "Yeah, then that's her alright."
   
Neenah walks over and hugs the tombstone, "I turned 16 today and I have been visiting you on every holiday, I'm sorry I didn't get to see you on Saint Patrick's Day and Easter." She then kisses her tombstone, "Michelle made a good corn beef and cabbage. I know you loved when Dad cooked that for us every Saint Patrick's Day. Easter was nice too, Jeff family is so wonderful, they're like the family we never had. I know you would have loved them too. Jeff is so good with kids and he's such a gentleman." Neenah looks over and sees Tom is watching her so she whispers softly, "And Jeff is a great boyfriend, but don't let Tom know."
   
As Neenah gets up and walks past Tom he grabs her, "What did you whisper to her?"
   
Neenah pulls Tom's hand off her and places it in his lap, "You won't understand, it's mother daughter stuff."

    Steve raises his eyebrow and says jokingly, "I hope it wasn't about me."

Annemarie then pushes Tom up to Mandy's grave, "Alright, now it's your turn to talk to her."
   
Tom rubs Mandy's tombstone, "Hey there mom, how's heaven? Are you having a big birthday party up there with grandma and grandpa?" he turns to Michelle, "I really don't know what to say to her."
   
"Just tell her how your life is and stuff."
   
Tom turns back to Mandy's tombstone, "Well, my life. Well I'm still a paraplegic, but I am starting to get used to it now, I figured out how to get on and off the bed. I also can dress myself now, but sometimes I need a little help. Dad was thinking about getting me a car with all hand controls so I can drive again." Tom then smiles, "And, I'm going to go to college, and to be a teacher, I want to make a difference in people's lives by helping them learn. Plus teachers these days don't really care about their students anymore and I would care about them. Oh, and Jeff has been tutoring me in math so I'm doing better in math now. It's funny, because a lot of people think Jeff is stupid, but he's smart." Tom starts to get teary-eyed, "Oh and mom, I made it on the honor roll this year. I thought it would never happen, but it did and I'm proud and I'm sure you would have been proud too." Tom rolls up to Michelle, "I think we should go home now unless you want to say anything else to my mom."
   
Steve pats him on the shoulder, "I would like to talk to her for a little, you guys can wait in the car if you like."
   
Jeff turns to Michelle as they all leave Steve alone with Mandy, "Hey, mom can we visit my great-grandpa's grave?"
   
Michelle shrugs her shoulders, "Is it ok with your friends?"
   
Jeff starts to walk over to the mausoleum, "Sure, why not?"
   
"Alright, I'll see you guys later." Steve then kneels in front of Mandy's grave, "Hey, Mandy. I'm still taking good care of our children. As you know your son is now an honor student, it's funny, because I always was afraid our children were going to be low lives. After all, I was a jerk growing up, but they turned out to be wonderful people." He then starts to cry, "I'm so sorry, I didn't do more to help you get through your addiction sooner. I should have noticed there was a problem when you begged the doctor to prescribe you more pain killers. Now you're gone forever, I really miss you and it hurts every day that you're not around to watch your children grow up. I love you so much, I always loved you, since the day I first laid eyes on you." He then hugs her tombstone, "I want to also say I'm sorry that I slapped you, men should never hit women. I was wrong, even though what you said made me angry and broke my heart." He then gets up and looks down, "I know you didn't mean what you said, you love Neenah, your addiction made you do bad things and now it killed you."
   
Meanwhile back at the mausoleum, Jeff is rubbing his great-grandpa's tomb, "This is my great-grandpa Gus. My family believes that I am the reincarnation of him." The mausoleum is a big building with two floors and a very high ceiling on both floors with brown carpeting.

    Michelle nods her head in agreement, "I believe, you are, I saw it in your eyes the day you were born and you have the same kind heart he did." Michelle looks at the tomb, "I feel, he knew my family needed him back, so he came back as you. I still think it's weird he choose me since I never liked babies and I was single making less than twenty thousand dollars a year."
   
Annemarie looks around, "You know my grandpa just died last year, he's also in a drawer thingy."
   
Jeff continues looking at the tomb, "My great-grandpa died before I was born, he died right before his 79th birthday and he was even buried on his birthday. My family always made a big deal out of my birthday, because I share the same birthday as him."
   
Tom starts to head towards the elevator, "I don't really believe in that reincarnation stuff. Anyway, we should probably head towards the car. I'd hate to keep our dad waiting."
   
Annemarie and Michelle follow Tom to the elevator while Jeff continues to stare at Gus's tomb and Neenah stands next to him. Jeff then turns to Neenah, "Hey, do you think it's possible that we could have all lived a life before the life we live now? I always wondered if it is true that I was Gus before I was Jeff."
   
Neenah pats his back, "If it's true, then hopefully my mom will be reincarnated into a healthier person. I hate to have her live addiction again, but I like to think that she's in heaven having a great time."
   
Tom pushes the elevator button and it opens, "Come on guys, get on before it closes!" Tom and Annemarie get on the elevator, while Neenah and Jeff are still staring at the tomb, "Come on, hurry up, it's going to close!"
   
Neenah grabs Jeff, "Come, let's go, my brother tends to get impatient."
   
Jeff follows Neenah onto the elevator, "Sorry, I just thought I should look at the tomb some more."